1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric bicycle and, in particular, to an electric bicycle with a pedal section for inputting a drive force and an electric motor for generating a drive force.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electric bicycle can have a pedal section for inputting a driving force from a rider and an electric motor for generating a driving force. An operation box having a switch and an electrically operative indicator can be generally disposed adjacent to a coupling portion of the electric bicycle. The coupling portion couples a head tube and a down tube with each other near a fore end of the bicycle. As a result, this configuration allows the rider to readily operate the switch or easily watch the indicator while riding the electric bicycle.
Electric bicycles also commonly have a controller. The controller adjusts the electric power supplied to the electric motor from a battery and controls a rotational speed of the electric motor. In such electric bicycles, the controller can be disposed adjacent to a pedal crankshaft near the pedal section which is near an aft end of the bicycle. A wire harness, which is formed from a plurality of wires, connects the controller (disposed at an aft end of the bicycle) to the operation box (disposed at a fore end of the bicycle). Such constructions are taught, for instance, by Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2000-261911.
The type of electric bicycle described above has a number of shortcomings. For example, a container is used to house both the operation box and the controller of the electric bicycle in order to protect these components from external elements, such as water and dust. However, in the electric bicycles discussed above, the operation box and the controller are spaced apart from each other. Therefore, the operation box and the controller each require an individual housing container. Consequently, the number of components used to construct prior art electric bicycles is increased which can result in increased manufacturing and production costs. In addition, the structural components necessary to individually attach the operation box and the controller to the body of the bicycle likewise is increased. Again, the number of parts required to construct these electric bicycles is unnecessarily increased which can result in increased production costs. Another shortcoming of prior art electric bicycles is that the wire harness connecting the operation box to the controller is typically relatively long because the operation box and the controller are spaced a significant distance from each other on the electric bicycle. As a result, installation and placement of the wire harness can be problematic.